Yanni

His music, Yanni says, is all he has to say. But I am glad that this memoir exists to tell the story of his life, his path to becoming a musician and his philosophy. It is a story well worth telling and one of the most inspirational memoirs I have ever read. Just the impact of his family upbringing alone is a beautiful story--most of us in America, even if it is a good childhood, it's normally dysfunctional on some level. Yanni was raised in a beautiful part of the world, Kalamata, Greece to show more two people who devoted themselves as parents and did a damn good job of it. Not only raising a child who would become one of the greatest musicians to live but his siblings also attained their Ph.Ds. in America (and of course that is not the only measurer of success but they are achievements none the less). His parents demonstrated what it is to be a perfect parent: loving yet firm, accepting yet teaching how to be a self actualized person. And Yanni's path to becoming a musician was not a straight one. But it is fascinating to know that he learned musical notations and to play instruments early in life and that he stubbornly taught it to himself! Later, in his college years he relied on playing the piano for solace and his loneliness being in a foreign country and learning English for the first time. After graduating college with a degree in psychology, he decided to spend a year to decide if music is what he wants to do and- thankfully for the world- he decides it is...and he stays by that decision no matter how hard it got. He built his first music studio with his own hands and recorded his first album entirely on his own and in isolation in 1980. Early 80s music producers and stations were amazed at his sound but didn't know what to do with him. They stuck the label New Age onto him but Yanni was not aware that that was what he was doing- he was just composing the music, not trying to fit in anywhere. Yanni has said that when he plays his music it heals himself and I can definitely feel this way by his music-it heals the listener-and I love his live videos because you can see the joy lighting up his face as he plays. He still tours worldwide and often at holy and beautiful sites such as the Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Egypt, the Forbidden City in Beijing. The most valuable part of the book is when Yanni shares with us his secrets of creativity. An artist, he says, faces "the black." It is the fear of the Unknown that every artist must stare down. As long as you can sit in silence you can create. Even if showing up for practice means you sit in silence the whole time, you still have benefited. Next time you sit at your notebook or at your computer, words can begin to show up. Just persevere. Other days, you may be writing and writing and writing....and have to toss it all out. It's not like making bread to a recipe. Sometimes it comes out whole and sometimes it doesn't. It is learning to heed the call of the Muse and differentiating (not between good or bad) but between true and false and only to write down the True. Obviously you need fundamentals but after that the practice is a lot like sitting in silence (with a pen). Finding this magic inside yourself- the only way I can understand it. Every day the artist faces the blank page, the blank canvas, the quiet piano--he faces the Unknown. Yanni did not fear this and he broke through to become his dream and he is living it now and continues to inspire those of us like myself who love, admire and are inspired by him. A final word from Yanni--he warns against not stopping this process. Once you tap in you need to stay with it: do not judge it, do not criticize it. That's not your job yet. Stay with the process, let it flow with you....

words from Yanni:

"I believe music represents humanity's soul....when I compose I blend a rainbow of styles and ethnicities and witness the souls of many cultures come together obviously and easily. The result is more color, beauty and strength. A seamless mesh. Unity. I do it all the time. I feel it, and it's not at all awkward or unusual. In fact, it's completely natural. When I see how our musical souls come together in art, I ask myself "why can't we do the same?" The answer is that we can. We must. I know the world is in turmoil but I believe that we are on a one-way street, and that to survive we have no choice but to become a global community. I believe that what I see in the music means that the human race has the chance to find common ground.... I'm supposed to see the world as it can be. I'm an artist. I am about instinct, not logic or history. If our souls can come together in music, they can come together anywhere, and as a race we can achieve harmony and peace." (2002) show less

Not only was the performance inspiring and beautiful, this souvenir booklet, too, is filled with magnificent pictures

Favorite line (page 120): "You've discovered the Grand Unified Cleaning Lady Theory of the Universe."